Sanitary floor for brooders



Sept. 30, 1930. J. A. HALE 1,777,982

S ANI'1ARY FLOOR FOR BROODERS Filed Jan. 12. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwmntoc WW Z I mm

Sept. 30, 1930. J. A. HALE I" SANITARY FLOOR FOR BROODERS Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jam 12. 1928 Patented Sept. 30, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE" JOHN A. HALE, or TRIPOLI, IOWA SANITARY v FLOOR FOR, nnoonnns Application filed January 12,1923) Serial nossiasosj structure including a sectional floor of wire netting, a side wall with which this wire net ting floor may be engaged and supported at its margin from the floor of the brooder house, the sections of wire netting being provided with legs extending downto the floor of the brooder house so that the wire net ting floor may be firmly supported throughout its area, the floor being madeofwire netting of such sized mesh as will permit the droppings to fall through or be forced by the chicks moving over the-floor, such mesh, however,

beingof such size that it will' preventthe chicks from getting their legs or feetthrough this floor of wire netting. I i Y r Astill further object is topro'vide a floor of this character made in: sections so that it may be compactly nested for. transportation and whichi'is provided with depending legs so that the false floor, .asit were, may be-di sposed within the brooder and supported from' the true floor thereof. i, t

Other objects will-appear in the cours e of the following description. 2 1

My invention is illustrated in the ac o'fi panying drawings, wherein,;' j Figure l is atop plan-viewof a V floor-constructed in accordancewith my inventioni a Figure 2 1s a side elevation thereof; Figure 3 is a fragmentary verticalsection through the floor showing the watering pan;

Figure 4' is a fragmentary vertical section showingone of the feeders;

Figure'5 is a detail vertical'section at the intersection of two sections of the floor;

brooder Figure 6 is a' perspective View of the bracket for supporting a water or feed pan;

Figure '7 is'an elevation of one of the feet.

7 Referring-to these drawings, 10 designates the sanitary floor, which is formed of wire mesh preferably of half inch gauge, though a smaller or larger gauge' mightibe' used;

This floor is preferably made inj'sections and I have illustrated itas made in sixsections A, B, C, D, E, and F. Eachof these sections has an outside wall 11 of wire network which is joined to the sanitary floor, as will be later described;

Each section along its inside marginsf is formed, as shownin Figure 5, forming a dependmg flange 10 "in the w1re network and disposing this flange within an approx imately Ushapedstrip 12 of sheet metal.

These depending binding strips; 12 abut against each other and-are held in engage ment with each other by small stovebolts13; Thus these sections may be readily connected to or disconnected from each other. The sections, when put together, are preferably octagonal in plan. a i Disposed between the'side wallll of wire network and the floor sections 10 arefsheet 7 metal members l4. These are reb'ent upon themselves at 11 as "shown in Figure '3, at their upper edges to receivethe lower margins'of the wire network'll, and at their lower margins each sheet i me tal section 14 is bent inward at-15 and theri rebentupon itself so as to provide a recess to receive the flange of a supporting bracket, as will be later stated, and the margin of the sheet metal 7 14 is then again bentinwaitd, asat 16, to form" a recess to receive the floor 10. The sheet metal 14 is out outjust above the floor, as at 14?, totprovide openings in each side wall for the recepti on of water and feed receptacles;

, Preferablya more" or less centrally disposedopening'17 isformed in the sanitary floor through which the heater may extend. This opening willvary in shape according to the type of heat'er. Legs 18 angular in cross sectiolrare attachedto the under face of the floor and are intended to' be fastened to the sectional strips 12 at the junctions thereof and at the extremities-where needed. These legs will be approximately one and a half inches long. The bolts 13 fasten these legs to the strips 12.

The brackets 19, as shown in Figure 6, are made of sheet metal and angular in form and the outwardly projecting portion of each bracket has an upwardly extending flange 20. At its inner end each bracket is bent straight downward, as at 21, to engage the floor ot' the hen house or brooder house and then extends straight upward, as at 22, to apoint just beneath the opening 145, and then is bent downward and then outward, as at 23, to engage in the recess formed between the plies of sheet metal 15 and 16. Each bracket has a downwardly extending side web 2% whose upper end is flanged at 25 and riveted to the bracket 19 and this web 24 is provided with an outer flange 26 and a base flange 27 to rest upon the floor. The tray 28 may be made of metal or any other suitable material and is supported upon the corresponding bracket 20, this tray being provided with a stop 28 which prevents the tray from being inserted too far into the opening 14 but will permit the tray to have its inner end inserted through the opening sufficiently to permit the chicks to drink or feed. There may be as many of thesctrays as desired.

The feed containers 29 shown in Figure 4 are somewhat dilferent in form from the water containers, in that they have an upward extension .30. The heel of the container is provided with a slanting false bottom 31 so as to direct the feed forward, and preferably the tray is formed with a partition three inches from one end in order to make a separate receptacle for grit or other needed food, or in other words this tray may be separated into compartments so that different kinds of feed may be supplied. This feeding tray or container has a metal brace 32 which extends downward from the inclinedbottom 27 and engages the bracket 20 and supports the tray. In order to remove the feeding and watering trays, it is only necessary to lift them up at the back and then withdraw them, the upwardly extending flange 20 of the bracket acting to lock the trays in place.

The advantages of this brooder door will be obvious from what has gone before. It is practically self-cleaning, as the droppings that do not fall through the wire mesh are quickly forced through by the chicks moving around over the floor. Vatcr and feed can not be scratched out and become unsanitary, as what little is wasted drops through the wire mesh out of the chicks reach. The feed and water always remain clean because most of the area of the water and feeding trays are exterior to the side wall and out of the chicks reach, only enough of these trays protruding through to the inside to allow of access for feeding and drinking. The chicks cannot crowd in on this floor, as there are no square corners for them to congregate in, an d even if the chicks did pile up the under chicks will be perfectly safe from any danger of: smothering inasmuch as the wire mesh underneath gives free circulation of air.

As there is no litter to clean up and replenish and since through the -'-*construction of the floor it will be only necessary to clean out the droppings beneath the floor every fifteen or twenty days, much time aid labor Will be saved. Furthermore, the feeders and waterers will be easily accessible without the necessity of walking amongst the chicks. In my observation about 90% of the spread oi disease from infected chicks to healthy chi ks is caused through the healthy chicks coming in contact with and picking at the droppi Ci of diseased chicks and also through eating food that has become contaminated in the litter and by drinking contaminated water. This will be entirely obviated by this wire mesh floor. I contemplate the use of paper beneath the wire mesh floor to catch the droppings, as this paper may be readily removed and burned when dirty.

The floors obviously will be made of different sizes to conform to different s ze: brooders and, of course, the shape of the floor will be made to conform to the shape of the brooder with which it is to be u's d. lVhere a heating element with a chimney is used, the floor is to be provided with an opening 17, as previously stated, but for brooders using electrical heat there would not necessarily be any opening through the floor. medium size floor will have a dimension of eight feetacross each way.

Obviously many changes might be i'nadc in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. As an article of manufacture, a floor for brooders formed of a plurality of sections of wire mesh, the wire mesh being of sufficient gauge to permit droppings to pass therethrough, the exterior edges of the sections having supporting means to which the sections are attached, the interior margins of the sections having supporting metallic strips to which the section is-attaclied, the supporting strips of one section being adapted to be bolted to the supporting strips of an adjacent section, the fioor being provided with a plurality of depending legs.

2. A floor for brooders formed of sections of wire netting, the wire netting being of sufiicient gauge to permit droppings to pass therethrough, each section having downwardly extending marginal portions whereby one section may be bolted to the next and each section having an upstanding marginal wall, said wall being apertured for the passage of a feeding or watering receptacle, a

bracket engaged with the margin of the wall, the bracket extending downward below the floor and outward and having an upstanding outer end, receptacles adapted to be disposed upon said brackets, each receptacle having a portion thereof, insertable through the aperture in the wall, and means on the receptacle preventing inward movement of the receptacle with reference to the wall.

3. A floor for brooders formed of wire mesh, the wire mesh having a gauge sufficient to permit droppings to pass therethrough, the floor being formed of sections detachably engaged with each other, each section having a plurality of downwardly extending legs whereby the sections may be supported, the exterior of the floor having an upstanding wall, brackets attached to the floor at a plurality of points, the upstanding wall being slotted opposite said brackets, andfeeding and watering devices having portions adaptinwardly opening horizontal recess, the last ed to be inserted through said slots, the greater portion of each device being exterior to the wall and being supported by brackets.

l. As anarticle of manufacture, an open work false floor for brooders having means whereby it may be supported above'the usual brooder fiocr,-the floor havingan upstanding sheet metal marginal wall extending inward its lower margin and folded to form an outwardly opening horizontal recess and an named recess receiving the margin ,of the false floor, and supporting members each :3 having a horizontal flange disposed in the first named recess;

5. As an article of'manufacture, an openworl: false floor for brooders formed in sec tions, the sections having means whereby they maybe engaged with each other and each section having supporting legs, the floor having an upstanding marginal wall having food tray receiving openings, members constituting legs detachablyengaged with the false floor and disposed immediately below said openings, and food receptacles disposed in said openings but removable therefrom and supported by said members.

6. As an article of manufacture, an open work false floor for brooders having means whereby it may be supported above the usual "breeder floor, the floor having an upstanda provide a horizontal portion and a vertical,

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bers, each supporting memberhaving an upwardly extending flange at its outer end preventing the direct outward movement of the food receptacle.

8. As an article of manufacture, an openwork false floor for brooders, the floor being formed in sections detachably engaged with each other, each of said sections having an upstanding sheet metal marginal wall having an opening for the reception of a food receptacle, the sheet metal wall extending below said opening and then being formed to provide an outwardly opening horizontal recess and an inwardly opening horizontal recess, the last named recess receiving the margin of the false floor section, supporting brackets each formed of sheet metal bent to inner portion having an inwardly projecting flange adapted to be received within the first named recess, a flange supporting webattached to said outwardly projecting portion of said brackets, and food receptacles adaptedto bedisposed through said openings and supported by said brackets. i

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my 7 JOHN A,

ing sheet metal marginal wall having food 7 receptacle openings, the wall below said openings being foldedto form anoutwardly opening horizontal'recess and aninwardly opening horizontal recess, the last named 'recess receiving the margin of the false floor,

supporting members each having a longitudinal flange disposed in' the firstnamed recess, and food receptacles disposed through said'openings and resting upon said support ing members; 7 p

7. As an artlcle of manufacture, an open- 7 work false floor for brooders havingmeans' 

